The New Playground: Navigating Social Media and Kids' Online Privacy
Introduction
In recent years, kids have been spending the majority of their time online. Online platforms are the new form of going outside to play – fulfilling the same role and power as a physical playground – and it doesn’t seem like this mentality is going away anytime soon. According to the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a child from ages 11-14 is estimated to spend about 9 hours a day on digital platforms. Social media use is also widespread: another study from the US Surgeon General’s Advisory found that 95% of children ages 13-17 and nearly 40% of children ages 8-12 report using social media, even though the minimum age required by various platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) is typically 13. On these platforms, children are able to connect with their peers and develop friendships online. In addition, norms and customs that translate into the real world begin to shape.
Children need to be protected and understand the consequence of their actions in this place where they contract their self-worth and their emotions are contingent upon likes. A greater conversation about the need to protect our future generation’s mental health is needed. Mental health is our emotional, psychological, and social well-being, and is equally as important as our physical well-being and is most plastic at a young age. While it can be protected with self-care, without it, thoughts, feelings, actions, and decision-making skills are all at risk.
One of the biggest threats to kids’ mental health is privacy. Children have been compromised in recent years with the lack of protection and oversight from social media and the internet. Users are subject to platforms’ data collection practices that tailor viewing material to what will keep them on the internet and surfing even longer, and this leaves children exposed to manipulative design techniques that promote addictive and compulsive use in order to generate more revenue. Companies have little incentive to change this behavior even when they know the effects of their actions. This is perpetuating a cycle where kids are targeted online to a point where it is difficult to leave but harmful to stay.
Online communities often have little oversight from governmental agencies. Legislation that promotes safety in a digital and physical space is an important tool that can further mental health. There have been quite a few bills, resolutions, and caucuses that have been working over the years to create a safer online environment, but efforts thus far have fallen short. There is much more that can be done, but it is a great starting point to, one day, having an internet that we feel comfortable having our nation’s future surfing.
Youth, Social Media, and the Pandemic
Psychologists have started to study the harms of social media and its impact on brain development, particularly on children ages 10-19. During this time, adolescents are the most susceptible to peer pressure and comparisons; these ages are also when mental illnesses can develop. A report by the Surgeon General regarding the effects of the introduction of social media in the U.S. college population showed that the rollout of a new social media platform may have contributed to more than 300,000 new cases of depression. Additionally, social media has often been found to be the source of poor sleep, online harassment, poor body image, and low self-esteem in both young girls and boys, although studies suggest that girls are more likely to be impacted.
Parents have more recently started to share their fears about their children’s mental health as well, especially coming out of the pandemic. Pew Research released a study in January 2023 detailing that 76% of parents reported worrying that their children struggled with anxiety or depression, compared to 54% in 2015. Nearly half of all parents surveyed by the American Psychological Association in 2021 reported that their child had visited a mental health professional since the start of the pandemic, and more than one in five parents reported having trouble making an appointment. In the same study, young adults ages 18-29 said they were more anxious than they were the previous year. Mental health, especially in youth, has only declined since the pandemic.
Federal Government Efforts
Modern-day mental health efforts by the federal government kicked off in earnest in 2010 when it was incorporated as an essential health benefit under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Capitol Hill has taken steps to combat this very topical problem. Currently, the Mental Health Caucus, led by longtime champions Reps. Grace Napolitano (D-CA) and Chris Stewart (R-NY), have led efforts in the House. The caucus has been the force behind major mental health legislation and resolutions like H.R.721, Mental Health Services for Students Act, and H.Res.372, which supported designating May as Mental Health Awareness Month. In addition, various task forces exist in Congress that dive deeper into specific mental health issues, such as the Bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task Force, Youth Suicide and Mental Health Task Force, and the Health Care and Mental Health Task Force.
Since the start of the 118th Congress, legislation has been introduced or reintroduced to tackle the specific issue of kids’ use of social media. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) reintroduced S.1409, Kids Online Safety (KOSA) Act, which was just passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee on July 27. This bill would put the responsibility on the platforms to ensure the safety of kids online. Not only would platforms be held to a more concrete standard, but parents and students would also be also given safeguards and tools to protect themselves online. This legislation would also shed light and clear databases to foster further research in this area.
S.1291, the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act, has yet to pass out of the Senate Commerce Committee. This legislation – sponsored by Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Katie Britt (R-AL) – would require the age limit of social media to be a minimum of 13. Currently, there is no federally enforced rule, though most platforms ask that their users be 13.
This session of Congress, S. 2326 or “COPPA 2.0,” introduced by Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), is another piece of legislation seeing action. The original Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) took effect in 2000, imposing requirements on websites directed to or knowingly collecting data on children under 13. COPPA 2.0 requires social media companies to get parental consent for data tracking of children under the age of 13. It also requires full disclosure to parents of what data was collected. There is also an additional right to revoke consent and have your information deleted.
In addition to broader privacy efforts, Congress has also held hearings to talk to different leaders in the social media industry, such as the TikTok CEO, to determine the harmful effects of excessive data collection, especially for youth. Beyond Capitol Hill, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced plans to crack down on Meta for abusing children’s data privacy on its platforms. Most of the offenses stem from the excessive collection of data by Meta. The company has reportedly not been transparent about who can chat with children using their messaging platforms and how they sell the data they collect with each user. The FTC has reaffirmed its stance, ensuring big tech companies know this practice will not be the norm.
A New Task Force
Recognizing the seriousness of this issue, the White House has continued this fight. During this year’s State of the Union, President Biden outlined a comprehensive plan for combating the national mental health crisis. It includes three main target areas: strengthening system capacity, connecting Americans to care, and supporting Americans by creating healthy environments. In the first objective, President Biden recognized the behavioral health provider shortage. He acknowledged that the crisis cannot be fixed without having the capacity or ability to tackle it. Second, he emphasized the importance of ease of access and noted that mental health concerns need to be covered and as accessible as physical health concerns. His last target area, healthy environments, must be addressed through the responsibility of the digital industry. The third goal aims to target platform accountability for the results of their actions.
In May 2023, the Biden Administration announced the development of a Task Force on Kids' Online Health and Safety Research. This task force aims to identify, recommend, and advance measures that protect children on the internet and social media. The goals of the task force for this year are to review current industry efforts and to compile best practices on how to navigate the digital world that can be shared with parents and guardians. In spring 2024, the task force hopes to have developed voluntary guidance, policy recommendations, and a toolkit on safety-, health- and privacy-by-design for industry-developing digital products and services.
Much of the approach the White House has taken has been school-based. In July, President Biden began pushing out nearly $300 million to expand mental health services and access to mental health professionals in schools. The president encouraged governors to also invest in the same services – increased training, access to services, oversight of screenings, and building awareness with acceptance – within their own states.
Conclusion
We live in a world where the place we seek entertainment is plagued with distrust and harmful effects to our health. What’s more, the collection of data, and use of it to influence online behavior, has had a dramatic impact on our current landscape, particularly for children. It is important to create a pathway that ensures adolescents are not subject to the lasting damage of exposure to destructive information on the internet. Several proposals have been put forward, but change is contingent on plans that are put into action and enforced, which requires every branch and level of government to be on the same page.